Tattva-viveka
omniscience of the lord
Vivek - September 6, 2006 5:07 pm
During the discussion about guru and his relative and absolute position there were citations like brahma's bewilderment to understand the jiva being non-omniscient. But there was a citation where mahaprabhu mistakes a sand dune for govardhan. Mahaprabhu is omniscient as he is the lord so how do we understand this pastime, is it just that in his bhava as devotee he sees lord everywhere. Similarly in his incarnation as Ramacandra Lord doesnt acknowledge his omniscience in fact he acts sometimes like a human being. When concerned with the Lord, all these are just pastimes right!! His omniscience is there but he willingly covers it.
Please let me know if my understanding is correct.
Gaurangi-priya Devi - September 13, 2006 2:08 pm
During the discussion about guru and his relative and absolute position there were citations like brahma's bewilderment to understand the jiva being non-omniscient. But there was a citation where mahaprabhu mistakes a sand dune for govardhan. Mahaprabhu is omniscient as he is the lord so how do we understand this pastime, is it just that in his bhava as devotee he sees lord everywhere. Similarly in his incarnation as Ramacandra Lord doesnt acknowledge his omniscience in fact he acts sometimes like a human being. When concerned with the Lord, all these are just pastimes right!! His omniscience is there but he willingly covers it.
Please let me know if my understanding is correct.
In Krsna's pastimes less is more. Less arms, less opulence, less omniscience. The relationships between the devotees and the Lord are sweeter and more real when the Lord acts as a human. He has the power of being omniscient and can use it when he wants, like when Krsna hears the pleas of Draupadi when she is being disrobed, or when he knows the gopis are worshiping Katyayani praying for him as their husband, but then acts just like a friend by driving the chariot of Arjuna, or eating the banana peels offered to him by Vidura's wife, or allowing his mother to bind him. It's boring if everyone all the time treats you like God. Even the president or celebrities like to have people that are just normal with them, and treat them like a father, mother, son, daughter, lover, or friend, not just the adoring fans always praising them, (or hating them).
Here are some nice quotes about this from C.C.Adi-lila Ch.4 18-22
Krsna speaking, "All the universe is filled with the conception of My majesty, but love weakened by that sense of majesty does not satisfy Me. If one regards Me as the Supreme Lord and himself as the subordinate, I do not become subservient to his love, nor can it control Me. If one cherishes pure loving devotion to Me, thinking Me as his son, his friend, or his beloved, regarding himself as great and considering Me his equal or inferior, I become subordinate to him."
There are more great verses after these. But it shows us the Lord's desire. Rama came as the ideal human, and so acted like a human for his pastimes. And Krsna is even more human-like. Ramachandra is the ideal, way more ideal than any of us could dream of being. He sent his pregnant wife away, just to keep his duty as the ideal king, just one example. But Krsna, well Krsna is a theif, a naughty mishcevious boy, who falls in love with damsels, and steals butter and our hearts. 
In Braja he doesn't display his omniscience. And I think his Paramatma feature is where he displays his omniscience more.
So, yes of course as you said, it's all for pastime, for tasting the sweetness of rasa with his devotees. 
Swami - September 13, 2006 2:41 pm
In Braja he doesn't display his omniscience. And I think his Paramatma feature is where he displays his omniscience more.
So, yes of course as you said, it's all for pastime, for tasting the sweetness of rasa with his devotees.
"In all His pastimes the effulgent Lord (Krsna) is simultaneously bewildered and omniscient." (Krishna Karnamrita 83).
This omniscience is primarily manifest outside of Vraja in Krsna's Mathura and Dvaraka lilas and primarily unmnaifest in Vraja. In Dvaraka Krsna is sometimes bewildered and therefore asks for advice from Uddhava, etc., but in Vraja he is almost always bewildered by the force of his devotees love. This bewilderment is, as Gaurangi-priya said, more rather than less. Nice choice of words.
Jason - September 14, 2006 2:09 am
Wow...Gaurangi-priya! That was incredibly succinct and was explained in an "easy for me to digest" sort of way. Thanks for explaining that.